Trikes continue racing along Katipunan

Trikes continue racing along Katipunan

by Justin S. Gatuslao

SAN JUAN DEL MONTE – Philippines – They just keep racing.

In Loyola Heights, Quezon City, passenger tricycles, or “trikes,” continue their early morning drag races along Katipunan Avenue to compete for cash, thrill and ego, raising security concerns in the district.

Renz Murao, Village Secretary, said trike drag races continue even after additional police patrol units were dispatched to the area.

“We are still undermanned,” he said, prompting the barangay council to add more tanods to patrol the Katipunan area. “There are more police patrol cars but the tricycles just keep racing,” he said in Tagalog.

A few months ago Quezon City Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS) head Manuel Sabalza ordered more police units to the area to monitor the illegal activities.

Murao, himself a former tricycle operator, pinpointed the Tricycle Operator’s and Driver’s Associations or TODAS as the instigators of these races. Murao said, “Usually, it is a three way-race between the TODAS of Balara, Katipunan, and Quirino.”

The basic bet ranges from P50 to P300. Once the pot money is collected, which reaches P1,000 to P5,000, they proceed to their starting positions. With a “Go!” signal and a kick to start their engines, the race is on.

Mapping out the route with his finger, Murao said the drag racers start from the east entrance of the Quirino Medical Center, also called “Labor” since the hospital’s labor room is nearby. Then they dart through Katipunan, throttle up and down the flyover, and scurry through the last lap – a mad dash from Ateneo to the gates of Miriam College.

Murao said it really is for the fun, the thrill and the ego boost. “Pero yung 5,000 malaku naman ‘yun,” (But 5000 that’s already (a) big [amount]) he added with a grin.

When pressed about safety issues, Murao said the time they race is safe since there are so few motorists and pedestrians. But he also acknowledge the dangers of drag racing not only for other motorists or pedestrians, but for the tricycle drivers themselves.

“I told all my friends in the TODAs to stop already but they still like racing,” Murao said in Tagalog.

The Katipunan TODA officers refused to comment.